Bad Behaviour (2023 film)

Bad Behaviour is a 2023 New Zealand dark comedy film directed and written by Alice Englert in her feature directorial debut. She also stars in the film alongside Jennifer Connelly, Dasha Nekrasova, Karan Gill, Marlon Williams and Ben Whishaw.

Bad Behaviour
Release poster
Directed by	Alice Englert
Written by	Alice Englert
Produced by	Desray Armstrong Molly Hallam
Starring	Jennifer Connelly Alice Englert Dasha Nekrasova Karan Gill Marlon Williams Ben Whishaw
Cinematography	Matt Henley
Edited by	Simon Price
Music by	Cameron Tuliloa McArthur Alice Englert
Production companies	Sandy Lane Productions Ask About My Films New Zealand Film Commission Bee-hive Productions
Distributed by	Ahi Films
Release dates	January 21, 2023 (2023-01-21) (Sundance) November 2, 2023 (2023-11-02) (New Zealand)
Running time	107 minutes[1]
Country	New Zealand
Language	English
Box office	$88,469[2]

The film premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2023, and was released in select New Zealand cinemas on 2 November 2023.

Cast

• Jennifer Connelly as Lucy, a former child actress
• Alice Englert as Dylan, Lucy's daughter and stunt performer
• Dasha Nekrasova as Beverly
• Karan Gill as Leonard
• Marlon Williams as Elmore
• Ben Whishaw as Elon Bello, a spiritual leader
• Beulah Koale as Dion
• Ana Scotney as Petunia
• Alistair Sewell as Tom
• Robbie Magasiva as Lawrence

Production

In June 2022, it was reported that Jennifer Connelly and Ben Whishaw joined the cast of the film, with Alice Englert directing from a screenplay she wrote.^[3]

During an interview with W in November 2022, Englert revealed that the film's production had just wrapped and taken place in New Zealand.^[4]

Release

Bad Behaviour had its world premiere at 2023 Sundance Film Festival on 21 January 2023.^[5] It was released in select New Zealand cinemas on 2 November 2023;^[6] in the UK the film was released on Icon Film Channel on 4 December 2023, followed by the release in cinemas on 5 January 2024.^[7] It was released in limited cinemas and VOD by Gravitas Ventures in the United States and Canada on 18 June 2024.^[8]

Reception

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 48% of 44 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website's consensus reads: "Despite impressive work from Jennifer Connelly and Alice Englert, Bad Behaviour is too scattered and disjointed to support its unwieldy ambitions."^[9] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 57 out of 100, based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.^[10]

Awards and nominations

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipient(s)	Result	Ref.
Sydney Film Festival	18 June 2023	Best Film	Bad Behaviour	Nominated	[11]